An insurer and/or descender is a device used to carry out mountaineering or caving activities, which allows the user to descend using a rope.
The principle forming the basis of the operation of such devices exploits the friction between the rope and the insurer and/or descender, which tends to slow the downward movement of the climber.
The first tools used, which are still today in widespread use, have been joined by new ones, designed in order to make the activity safer overall, on the one hand allowing the rope to be locked more effectively and on the other hand adopting provisions that make it more difficult, if not actually impossible, to use the device incorrectly or in an unsafe manner.
For this purpose devices equipped with so-called anti-panic systems would be useful, capable of keeping the user safe even in situations in which full control of the device is lost for reasons such as inexperience or fatigue.